One year after renovation, Kings Theatre helps revive Flatbush as a destination

When the city announced plans in 2010 to restore the magnificent, Depression-era Kings Theatre in Flatbush after nearly four decades of neglect, it was heralded as a linchpin in a neighborhood's revitalization.

"Kings Theatre has looked to serve as a cultural anchor," said Anthony Finkel, economic development coordinator at the Flatbush Development Corp. "And it definitely is an attraction that brings people to the neighborhood."

The starting point was getting crowds to turn out for shows they couldn't see anywhere else. So far, it's working. The $95 million, five-year renovation not only brought the 3,271-seat city-owned theater back into service, it has attracted lines around the block. Its inaugural concert in February 2015 by Motown legend Diana Ross sold out, as did shows by Erykah Badu and bands Sleater-Kinney, Passion Pit and Wilco. With 200 shows expected to be booked annually, the payoff could be significant for the theater and the foodie scene on nearby Cortelyou Road."It's definitely been good for business," said Christy Sheehan, owner of Bar Chord. Ben Heemskerk, owner of The Castello Plan and Lea, also on Cortelyou, brings in additional staff on concert nights and makes sure his kitchen is well stocked. On most days, only 30% of the tables in his restaurants are occupied at 6 p.m., but on concert nights, that rate shoots up to 90%. The same goes for most restaurants on the street, said Heemskerk. "Eight o'clock is a normal busy time for us, but to get [customers] at 5:30 and also at 10:30 and 11 o'clock, it's wonderful," he said.Theater crowds are so big that Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop, half a block down the road, hires additional food vendors (who set up in the bar's backyard) to feed them before the show, said manager Stephen Sheffer.Now the challenge is to increase daytime traffic into stores along Flatbush. "We haven't seen as much change in retail yet," said Lauren Elvers Collins, executive director of both the Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue business improvement districts.

Buck Ennis

Inside The Kings Theatre.

Kings Theatre is one of five Loew's Wonder theaters built in the New York City area early in the last century. It first opened in 1929—a massive confection of pink marble, walnut columns and a 70-foot arched ceiling adorning the sumptuous venue for live theater and movies. It eventually became a single-screen movie theater, until the city's decline in the 1970s and the rise of multiplexes finally forced its closure in 1977. Six years later the city seized the property for back taxes and allowed it to fall into ruin for the next 30 years trying to come up with a plan to save it.

The city's Economic Development Corp. and other city sources contributed $55 million to the refurbishment. Private investors such as Goldman Sachs also put up money. And the Houston-based ACE Theatrical Group, which has restored and operates theaters of a similar vintage around the country, invested $18 million in the project and now manages the space under a 55-year lease. (In September, ACE was acquired by London's Ambassador Theatre Group.) Anticipating more traffic and evening crowds, the city installed new lampposts on Flatbush Avenue and added turning bays at corners to ease congestion.

Last May, Nike opened its first New York City Community Store—a combination of retail and community empowerment through local hiring and grants to nonprofits—several blocks down, where Flatbush and Nostrand avenues intersect. In late 2014, as the theater renovation was nearing completion, the Gap opened a factory store across the street from the Kings.

Building on this momentum, two commercial developments are on their way. Set to open early next year is a seven-story, 69-room hotel at 1024 Flatbush Ave. Developer Joe Sarder has already lined up his first tenant for the ground-floor commercial space, Caribbean restaurant Sugarcane, a second location of the popular Park Slope eatery near the Barclays Center. Next door, another new building is rising from the parking-lot owner turned developer Maddd Equities. It will house a Crunch gym on the second floor along with stores on street level. "Once the plans to renovate the theater were announced and underway, that's when all the interest started," said real estate agent Karen Cohn of M.C. O'Brien Inc., which is marketing 34,500 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of retail space in a new building on Flatbush Avenue just three blocks from the theater.

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